Renovation for the first phase of the planned Little Rock Technology Park is expected to begin in April after tech park board members on Monday signed closing documents to purchase properties along Main Street.

Red Alert Media Matrix Inc. makes a new — and substantially lower offer — to purchase the assets of embattled photo and sports memorabilia dealer John Rogers. The shell company offered $28 million cash in April and a billion shares of stock; its original January bid was $59 million in cash.

Less than two years after the launch of Soul of the South — backed by nearly $2 million awarded by the state — the television network is struggling to pay its bills, laying off employees and fighting at least one lawsuit.

A 24-hour regional broadcast network based in Little Rock and targeting southern African-American viewers is set to launch May 27. The Soul of the South Network will launch in 30 markets throughout the southern U.S. and several northern and Midwestern cities.